PLANS to make every police officer in London wear body armour are not being considered in Merseyside.

PLANS to make every police officer in London wear body armour are not being considered in Merseyside.

The Metropolitan force are holding top level talks about the possibility of kitting cops out in protective jackets.

It comes after a spate of firearms attacks on officers in the capital - in the latest a police van was sprayed with bullets in a drive-by shooting.

But Merseyside police are not considering following the plan.

Currently only members of the armed response unit have to wear the jackets which cost around £200 each.

Other officers have the option of wearing one, no matter what their rank is or what their duties are. A Merseyside police spokeswoman said: "We are aware the Metropolitan force are looking at every officer wearing one of the jack-ets but is not something we are considering ourselves.

"There are times when officers do have one of the jackets but that is done after a risk assessment of what they are going to do."

Figures released last week showed Merseyside has the lowest gun problem of any comparable force in the UK.

There were 23 firearms incidents in the region per 100,000 people. Greater Manchester police had a total of 50, Nottinghamshire police had 26, West Midlands force had 43 and London had 58.